


Just Follow What You Feel

by edenofalltrades



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barista Rey (Star Wars), F/M, Feelings Make People Stupid, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Musician Poe Dameron, Mutual Pining, New Year's Eve, Title from a The Colourist Song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 08:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28468416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenofalltrades/pseuds/edenofalltrades
Summary: Rey doesn't imagine she's going to have a very eventful New Year's Eve when she has to work the overnight shift in a café. When her favorite regular customer stops by, can the night be salvaged?
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 13
Kudos: 34
Collections: Damerey Discord Shenanigans





	Just Follow What You Feel

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and will not be making any profit from this story.
> 
> A huge thank you to taidine for beta reading as well as [damerey_knows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/damerey_knows/profile), [Olpgurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olpgurl/profile) and [MASD_1138](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MASD_1138/profile) for spot checking things, helping me figure out the title and moodboard, and helping me "research" things. 
> 
> Lastly thank you to everyone on the Damerey Discord Server! I love all of you so much more than I could put into words. If I could figure out how to gift a work to an entire server, I absolutely would. Thank you for being there this past year, you have helped more than I can put into words. 💖

The café was mostly empty when Rey came in at ten PM to start her shift. There were only a few customers, the late night regulars, sitting at the tables by the windows watching the festivities going on outside. New Year’s Eve celebrations started a few hours ago, making it harder than usual to hear the soft indie rock that played at Jakku Java. 

It was Rey’s first time working the graveyard shift on New Year’s Eve, so she didn’t know exactly what to expect, but she supposed it was for the best that she was the one stuck there. Out of all of her coworkers, she was the only one who didn’t have any plans that night. Getting paid time and a half was one hell of a bonus as well - grad school, as it turns out, wasn’t cheap. 

As she wiped down the counter, Rey wondered if her favorite regular customer, Poe Dameron, would stop by. Probably not; there was no way someone that cool wouldn’t have plans on New Year’s Eve. 

Poe never specified what he did during the day besides “a soulsucking corporate job that I can’t wait to get away from”, but every night, without fail, he would come by the café to work on his music. Sometimes it was just with a notebook when he was writing new songs, other times he would drag along his laptop and headphones to mix tracks in Logic Pro. 

He never brought his guitar in to the café or played live for her, but one day curiosity got the better of Rey and she looked Poe up on Spotify. He had two songs posted that Rey listened to so many times she probably single-handedly doubled his stream count on them (and would have for sure if she had the paid version of the service and could have downloaded them to her phone).

_“I listened to your songs,” Rey confessed with a blush as she handed Poe his drink._

_“My songs?” Poe frowned._

_“Yeah, on Spotify,” Rey clarified, fearing that she had overstepped._

_“Right, yeah,” he nodded. “I didn’t think that I mentioned I had stuff up there.”_

_“You didn’t, I just got curious and found them,” Rey admitted._

_Poe leaned closer, resting his forearms on the counter, “Well, what did you think of them?”_

_“They were really good, you’re umm very talented,” Rey stammered as she tried to avoid his gaze._

_“Such high praise, sunshine,” the teasing lilt in his voice was unmistakable._

_Rey’s head shot up to look Poe directly in the eye. Huffing, she tried to explain. “I meant…”_

_Poe put a hand up to cut her off. “Don’t worry about it, I know what you meant. And I appreciate it. Your opinion means a lot to me.”_

_Before Rey had a chance to say anything else, Poe winked and stood up straight, walking to his usual table so he could start his session for the night._

Rey never understood how Poe could focus on what he was doing in the middle of a café. Sure, it wasn’t as bustling as it was during the daytime, but she couldn’t imagine trying to do anything creative in an environment that wasn’t totally silent. Poe seemed not to mind, though, telling her the ambient noise helped him think. Not that Rey was really complaining. Poe Dameron was like a painting - stunningly beautiful, but Rey could only ever look, never touch. 

The first hour of Rey’s shift went by quickly. With only two customers coming in, she had time to read the novel she had bought a few months ago, but never had time for, between grad school and two part time jobs. She was so engrossed in the story that when the bell above the door rang at a quarter past eleven PM, Rey barely noticed it. 

“Reading something good, sunshine?” Poe’s voice was unmistakable and unexpected in the moment, sending Rey flying back off her stool. 

“Oh!” Rey yelped, bracing for a fall that never came as Poe acted quickly and grabbed her hands. The stool fell to the side with a loud clatter, but Rey ended up in a standing position. 

“You okay?” Poe asked, still holding on to Rey’s hands.

Rey nodded, not meeting Poe’s gaze. She tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that he was still holding onto her hands, or how heavily her heart was pounding against her ribcage. 

“Sorry you got stuck working today,” Poe said as he traced light patterns against her wrists with his thumbs. “Can’t imagine you actually wanted to be here.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t really have any plans and I get paid time and a half so I don’t mind it,” Rey assured him. “Besides, as you can see it isn’t exactly full, so I can just relax.”

“And read?” Poe nodded in the direction where her book had fallen, letting go of her hands so she could retrieve it. 

Rey reached down quickly to pick up the book and stool she had been sitting on earlier. Setting the book on the stool behind her, she turned back to Poe. “What can I get you? The usual?”

“Yeah, that sounds great,” he said with his ever-present grin. “Along with the title of the book you were reading.”

“ _Annihilation_ ,” Rey disclosed reluctantly as she went to work brewing his drink. 

“I’ll have to check it out,” Poe said when she returned, taking note to make a big show of putting a $5 bill in the tip jar. 

“That really wasn’t necessary,” Rey blushed before mentally kicking herself for it. With no one else working that shift, she wouldn’t have to split the tips. Although that would normally be a good thing, the holiday making an already quiet time even quieter meant that she didn’t anticipate getting anything, so that was already a huge sum of money. Still, notifying him was the right thing to do, if he intended to give her less money he should have been made aware of it. 

“Gotta support my favorite barista,” Poe winked. 

“Thank you, it means a lot.” Rey smiled. It also meant a lot to her that he came in in the first place, but given that he didn’t have his usual bag with him, odds were that he wasn’t going to stay long. “So, do you have any plans for the rest of the night?”

“Not really,” Poe shrugged. “My friend, Snap, is having a party that I was invited to, but given that my ex is going to be there, I was looking for any excuse to skip. It’s partly why I stopped by the café. Wanted to see if you were working and could maybe use some company.”

“Yes!” Rey said a little too quickly before clearing her throat and clarifying. “I mean, if you want to.”

“I want to,” Poe chuckled. 

Rey watched as Poe dragged one of the chairs over to the counter so he could sit next to her as she worked, thanking whatever higher being was responsible for creating awkward party encounters. She thought she would be lucky to have him stop by at all that night, but now having him there for even an hour or two felt like winning the lottery. 

“So what’s the book about?” Poe asked as he settled down in the chair, holding onto his coffee cup with both hands. 

“This woman, a biologist, goes on an expedition to an unknown area in search of her husband who disappeared on a previous expedition to it,” Rey explained. “My roommate bought the Blu-ray and loved it but I wanted to read the book first.”

“Oh yeah, I knew the title sounded familiar from somewhere!” Poe nodded. 

“I was surprised that she got it in the first place,” Rey continued absentmindedly. “She doesn’t usually like anything sci-fi. I’m pretty sure it’s just because she had a crush on the actor who played the husband.”

Poe rolled his eyes. “I mean, he’s alright I guess if that’s what you’re into.”

Taking a good look at him, Rey realized Poe looked a lot like the actor who played the husband in _Annihilation_ , only he didn’t have his hair slicked back.

“Everything okay?” Poe waved his hand in Rey’s face. It was only then that she realized she had been staring at him. 

“Huh, yeah,” she shook her head. 

“Well that’s good,” Poe chuckled. “Because if anything were to happen, I feel like as the closest one to the espresso machine, I would be the one who would have to take over your shift, and I have no idea how to work that thing so we would have both been screwed.”

“I’m sure you could manage the sizable crowd we have here tonight,” Rey deadpanned. 

It was now five minutes to midnight and the last person besides her and Poe walked out of the café. 

“Guess it’s just us,” Poe waggled his eyebrows. Rey couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny or seductive.

“Guess so,” Rey laughed nervously, wishing she had some mindless task to work on while they talked so she could have some semblance of a buffer between them. 

“So I gotta ask, did you really not have any plans for New Year’s?” Poe inquired. Rey shook her head. “Wow. I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way, but I really thought you would have been busy tonight and that I wouldn’t see you again for some time.”

“I’m really not that interesting,” Rey assured him. “Most of the time I’m either busy with grad school or work. Doesn’t leave me much time to socialize.”

“But it’s New Year’s Eve!” Poe pressed. “The entire city becomes one big party.”

“I’ve never been one for New Year’s Eve,” Rey shrugged. “I’ve never even gotten a kiss at midnight.”

Crap. She hadn’t meant to confess that. Rey was never going to lie to Poe about her life but she didn’t need him to know just _how_ little she socialized. At least when she kept things close to the chest Rey could still pretend she was cool and aloof. But now that he knew…

“I can do it,” Poe offered, voice thick with emotion. 

Rey’s eyes shot up to look at him, assessing his expression. He had one eyebrow slightly quirked, a soft crease between it and the other. Poe looked at her with a gaze that was so impossibly soft, so genuine it made her heart skip a beat. 

“I mean,” he paused to clear his throat. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just figured since we’re the only two people here and it’s almost midnight we don’t have too many options and…”

“Okay,” Rey cut him off. 

“Okay,” Poe repeated. Getting up from the chair he walked around the other side of the counter so he was standing next to her. There wasn’t a TV in the café so they couldn’t watch the actual countdown, relying instead on the sound of the people outside the café to know when midnight was approaching. 

Time seemed to move slower when the crowd got to ten on the countdown, making Rey hyper aware of just how close Poe was to her and each movement he made. 

With ten seconds left, Poe stepped fully into her personal space. At eight seconds, he wrapped one arm around her waist, cupping her cheek with the other. When the countdown got to five seconds, Rey looped her hands behind Poe’s neck, playing with the hair at the nape. Poe didn’t start to lean in until there were three seconds left to go, keeping his lips hovering over hers until the crowd outside screamed “Happy New Year’s!”

When Poe offered to kiss Rey at midnight, she thought it would be just a quick peck. Short, sweet, to the point. A favor between a café patron and the barista who had a crush on him that would never be reciprocated. She never expected to feel a spark of electricity when his lips touched hers. He must have felt it as well because the next thing she knew, he was pulling her flush against his body, kissing her as though his life had depended on it. 

The crowd outside was singing Auld Lang Syne but the only thing Rey registered was Poe. The taste of espresso he drank earlier lingering on his tongue, his stubble scratching her sensitive skin, his arm tightening around her waist so tightly it was almost painful. She carded her hand through his hair, gently tugging at the soft curls. 

When they finally pulled apart, Poe pressed one more soft kiss against her lips before dropping his hand from her cheek down to loop around with the arm around her waist, leaning his forehead against hers, and breathlessly asked, “Did it live up to the hype?”

Rey leaned back so she could look him in the eyes, moving one hand down to cup his jaw, thumb stroking his cheek gently. “It was everything I always wanted and more.”

Poe turned against her hand, placing a lingering kiss against her palm, before lowering his forehead against her shoulder. Rey continued to play with his hair, choosing to enjoy the moment while she could. 

Rey wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, or how much longer they would have stayed had they not gotten interrupted, but at some point the bell above the door rang, indicating that a customer had come in and she had to come back down to earth. 

“Oh, sorry, I can leave…” the man announced. 

Rey could have sworn she heard Poe mutter something disgruntledly against her shoulder but put the thought aside as she stepped out of his embrace. Much as she enjoyed the last few minutes, she still had a job to do. “You don’t have to do that, I can take your order.”

Poe moved out of the counter area as Rey fulfilled the stranger’s order. She was looking forward to having their alone time back when the empty café suddenly became bustling. With the celebration outside coming to a close, people who didn’t want to go to a bar but didn’t have anywhere else to go and didn’t feel quite ready to go home went to the only other place open at that time, which just so happened to be the café. 

The line was fuller than Rey expected it to be that night but not anything she couldn’t handle on her own. The people, seeing she was the only one on shift, were more patient than usual and left good tips. Normally she would have been grateful for a night like that but she just wished they would all leave so that she could have more alone time with Poe. 

“I’ll just go sit at my usual table, while it’s still available,” Poe informed her as he started to drag the chair away. 

“Wait!” Rey called out, holding the copy of _Annihilation_ she was reading earlier. “Take this with you.”

“Thanks,” Poe smiled, taking the book from her in the same hand as the coffee cup from earlier. no doubt the drink had gone cold by now. Rey felt bad, wishing she could have replenished it at least, but the line was too busy for her to take a break and make an extra drink. 

She vowed that as soon as the line cleared out, she would make him a new drink… something that only happened an hour later. 

“What’s this?” Poe asked when the cup was placed in front of him. 

“Your usual,” Rey said with a smile, adding, “On the house.”

“Thank you, sunshine.” Poe reached over and gently caressed her hand, sending jolts of electricity up her arm. 

“You don’t have to stay, you know?” Much as Rey wished he would, she had no way of knowing how many more people would come in or when they would leave. 

“I can stay as long as it takes,” Poe assured her as he let go of her hand to lift up the cup she brought him. “I have a good book and an espresso.”

“Okay,” Rey bit her lip. She was about to say more when more customers came in, once again pulling her away from who she truly wanted to be with. 

The last customer didn’t leave until a quarter to three. Rey felt exhausted from the amount of drinks she had to make with barely any break in between but the full tip jar made up for it. As was seeing Poe still sitting there. He was so engrossed in the book that Rey didn’t want to interrupt him, opting instead to fill the time with any menial task she could think of - wiping down the counter, cleaning the espresso machine, refilling the sugar container. 

With the sugar container set on the counter, Rey went to the back to get the bag of sugar to replenish it. By the time she came back, Poe was walking back to the counter with the book. 

“You’re right, it was a good read,” he said as he slid the book towards her. 

“I’m glad you liked it.” Rey set the book back on the stool she had it on earlier. 

“Yeah, I might even give the movie a chance now,” Poe chuckled as Rey began pouring the sugar into the container. She wanted to ask him if he would be willing to wait for her to finish reading the book so they could watch it together but decided against it. One kiss, no matter how heated, did not mean he wanted to see her outside the café. 

“I actually came here tonight looking for you because I had some news that I wanted to share,” Poe confessed. 

Rey lifted the bag of sugar, stopping the flow so she didn’t accidentally overfill the container or knock it over and send it flying everywhere. “You did?”

Her brain started to immediately think of worst case scenarios. He had a girlfriend, he was moving, he was dying…

“I got a recording contract,” Poe revealed. 

“You did?!” Rey asked excitedly. Setting the bag of sugar down on the counter she ran around to hug Poe. “That’s fantastic news! Congratulations!”

“Thank you, sunshine,” Poe chuckled as he tightened the hug. 

“When do you leave your other job?” Rey moved out of Poe’s embrace so she could go back to the abandoned sugar container.

“Yesterday was my last day, actually,” Poe revealed. “I accumulated a month of unused vacation time that I’m taking for what would have been my last month of work. I have a whole bunch of meetings to just hammer out the details next week but I should start recording the second week of January, third at the latest.”

“I’m so happy for you.” In the entire time Rey had known Poe, he had been talking about how soulless and draining his day job was. How he couldn’t wait to one day get a recording contract and “flip off every last bastard in that place” on his way out.

“It’s why I was hoping to see you tonight, I wanted you to hear the news from me in case…” Poe paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “In case I couldn’t come in as often as before. I didn’t want you to think it was anything personal. Or that I was cheating on this place with another café.”

“How long have you known about the contract?” Rey frowned. If he already had his last day of work, he would have conceivably known about it for some time.

“About a month,” Poe confessed. 

“And you’re only telling me tonight because?”

“Because I got nervous,” Poe sighed. “Because I wanted to live in denial that nothing would change. That I could still come here every night. Then I got the paperwork from the studio about the deadline for the album and I realized it just wasn’t possible.”

“Okay,” Rey nodded, tears pricking at her eyes. On the one hand she was thrilled that Poe could live out his dream, but on the other hand she knew she would miss seeing him. He was always the best part of her day. 

“Hey, no,” Poe walked around the counter to hug her. 

“I’m being silly,” Rey chuckled darkly. “This is a fantastic opportunity for you.”

“It’s still a change,” Poe cooed in her ear. Pulling back he wiped away a traitorous tear that managed to escape. “I’ll miss you, too, but I’ll still come by as often as I can, I promise.”

“Okay,” Rey repeated, slightly more confident. 

Taking a step back, Poe held his hand out. “Dance with me?”

Well, that was certainly one way to change the topic. 

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“We don’t exactly have music at the moment,” Rey noted. It had been a few hours since she turned off the speakers, annoyed at the contrast of the music with the outside celebration. 

“I can put something on, just, please, dance with me,” Poe pleaded. 

Rey nodded. Poe pulled his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through for a few seconds before selecting a song and setting it down on the counter. The song he picked sounded vaguely familiar to Rey, but she couldn’t quite place it. It sounded like something she heard in a commercial but at a different tempo, slower, one that was easier to dance to. 

Taking her by the hand, Poe led Rey to the other side of the counter where there was more space to dance and where they wouldn’t be in danger of knocking over anything. Her heart beat wildly against her ribcage as they swayed together, unspoken longing hanging in the air. As the song came to an end, Poe dipped Rey, brought her back up to her feet, and, in the silence following the last note, kissed her softly. She might not have recognized the song he picked, but the message behind the lyrics was unmistakable. 

_I feel both sides, babe, high and low (high and low)_

_If I had my way, never let you go (never let you go)_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated! ❤️
> 
> I will try to get chapter 2 up as soon as possible. 
> 
> Title for this story & chapter one comes from the song [Wishing Wells](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DUzrmsNtzs) by The Colourist
> 
> The song Rey & Poe dance to at the end of the story is [High And Low (Acoustic Mix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCMvY8yjwY) by Empire of the Sun


End file.
